Me, Monkey, Mind & Mahatma Gandhi
Growing up in India, the lesson of “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” was taught to us in schools from the context of Mahatma Gandhi and a sculpture on his work table of the three monkeys with the hands covering their ears, eyes and the mouth.
In the recent years I came across a post which debated on how can one close the ears without first listening and determining it is evil? How can you close your eyes without first seeing and determining it is evil? And the debate went on about how “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” is not possible by simply covering your sensory organs.
In their interpretation, the three monkeys sculpture was gifted to Gandhi by Nichidatsu Fuji from Japan. This monument has been a part of Japan’s history and philosophy from the early times as depicted in the Tosho-Gu Shrine, Nikko.
To conclude:
In Japan they refer to the flickering intellect as “the monkey mind“. Thus in the three monkeys monument, the monkey is the symbol of the flickering mind. And the intended practice or philosophical message may be: See whatever you see consciously. Hear what you hear consciously. Speak what you want to say consciously. In practicing so, one realizes a conscious mind as we age.
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As I contemplated on how can I live a little bit more consciously, the following idea came forth:
Trying to balance my day/time I am centered and a little more conscious.
Trying to be open with everyone I is honest and a little more conscious.
Trying to learn from everything that happens I is in acceptance and a little more conscious.
When I is a little conscious, the mind is conscious, and one learns to live consciously.
Living consciously one finds what ever one seeks in their own pursuits.
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